Ramstein, Germany - US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday announced a new $500-million military aid package for Ukraine at a meeting of Kyiv's international supporters in Germany.

The package includes "additional missiles for Ukrainian air defense, more ammunition, more air-to-ground munitions and other equipment to support Ukraine's F-16s," Austin said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said Donald Trump's return to the White House would open "a new chapter" and reiterated a call for Western allies to send troops to help "force Russia to peace."

Zelensky spoke at the meeting of about 50 allies, the last such gathering before Trump takes office on January 20.

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"It's clear that a new chapter starts for Europe and the entire world – just 11 days from now, a time when we have to cooperate even more, rely on one another even more, and achieve even greater results together," said Zelensky.

"I see this as a time of opportunities," he added.

As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, Zelensky repeated a call for Western allies to send troops to help Ukraine.

"Our goal is to find as many instruments as possible to force Russia into peace," he told the meeting. "I believe that such deployment of partners' contingents is one of the best instruments."

The US under President Joe Biden has been Ukraine's biggest wartime backer, providing military aid worth more than $65 billion since February 2022.

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Ukraine's war against invading Russian forces "matters to all of us," Austin said, opening the 25th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

"We all have a stake in ensuring that autocrats cannot place their imperial ambitions ahead of the bedrock rights of free and sovereign peoples."

Trump, who has criticized the large amount of US military aid for Kyiv, has promised to bring a swift end to the war, but without making any concrete proposals for a ceasefire or peace deal.

Trump has criticized NATO allies for spending too little on shared defense. This week, he sparked further alarm by refusing to rule out military action to take Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU and NATO member Denmark.